System Messages

[emhill]

We are in the process of implementing Profound Logic UI at our client sites and we would like to have the users NOT have to use the green screens at all. What have any of you done concerning system messaging? One example is a user has printer form type messages sent to him. How can that be handled in Profound?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Scott Klement]

Here are a few alternatives:

1) ProfoundUI Genie can be used to make a GUI front-end over IBM's 5250 displays for WRKSPLF, WRKOUTQ, DSPMSG, etc.

2) IBM provides a tool called IBM i Navigator (formerly "Operations Navigator") that runs on Windows and allows you to read/answer messages, work with spooled files, etc in a GUI environment.

3) With IBM i 6.1 and higher, IBM provides Systems Director Navigator in the HTTP *ADMIN web server that provides similar functionality to what IBM i Navigator does, but runs in a browser.

4) You could use APIs to write your own versions of WRKSPLF, DSPMSG, etc that use a ProfoundUI rich display.

That last option is by far the most work, and the most complicated, but also gives you the most flexibility. I think most Profound Logic customers choose option #1, which is very easy to do.

Please let me know your thoughts and what you end up doing.

[emhill]

Scott...we have tried the web base Navigator but have come up lacking. The commands just don't seem to work for us. According to the IBM web site, to see the active jobs using Navigator the URL of http://hostA:2001/webnav/WnServlet?task=actjob should show active jobs (where hostA is our iSeries IP address). This just does not seem to work. We don't want to give each user carte blanche in the Navigator system. We would like to be able to create a menu that has the Navigator URL's behind the options but we just cannot seem to get the URL's to work. We keep getting page not found errors or 5 boxes in the top left corner of the page.

Thanks for you prompt reply!!!!

[Scott Klement]

Just between us (shhh.. don't tell anybody) I agree with you about IBM's System Director Navigator. I hope they listen to feedback from folks like you and improve it over time.

But, maybe my first option -- using Genie (possibly with Genie macros to automate going to/from the spooled file page) would work nicely? Let me know if I can assist with that...

Also, in case you're not aware, Profound Logic has a product called Atrium that provides a nice menu system, it might save you some time vs. writing your own? Just mentioning it, in case you didn't know.

Hope this helps!

[emhill]

Thanks Scott. I'll let you know which way we go....